Recent Sightings

Blackcap, male, heard and seen

Slowworms, 2, under black plastic sheets

Hornet inside the house (and released)

Salticus scenicus – one of the tiny jumping spiders we see on sunny walls Click for Photo

Firecrest regulus ignicapillus

German Wasp queens Vespula germanica several trapped in living room over a few days Click for photo

Newts, Great Crested, Common and Palmate

Brown Longeared Bat sadly found dead on the patio Click for Photo

Buzzing spider Anyphaena accentuate found in house Click for photo

Three Jackdaws investigating a potential nest hole Click for photo

Brimstone, 2 and Red Admiral

Brimstone butterfly, male

Red Admiral

Whinchat, male

Bats in hibernation – a single small woodland Myotis Click for photo and nine Natterer’s bats Click for photo

Two Greater Horseshoe bats roosting with fresh remains of Minatour beetle prey. Click for photo

A single Natterer’s bat in hibernation in NT bat barn

Three hibernating Natterer’s bats in NT bat barn

Male and female Brambling

Male and female Bullfinch with scaly foot infection (Cnemidocoptes)

Sparrowhawk

Natterer’s bat hibernating in NT bat barn Click for photo

Natterer’s bat hibernating in NT bat barn

Thriving colony of cave spiders Meta sp. in NT bat barn

Barn Owl pair hunting in long grass

Thrush singing loudly

Blackcap, pair on bird feeders

Sparrowhawk feeding on a pigeon for over 1½ hours  Click for photo 

Sparrowhawk

Buzzard taking a great interest in bird feeders Click for photo

Brambling, male

Regular visits over the last few days of a male Blackcap.  Often accompanied by a Nuthatch.  Neither have visited my garden feeders for a long time now so it’s very special.

Male money spider Lepthyphantes minutus   Click for photo

A very vocal Ring-Necked Parakeet being mobbed by corvids

First Brambling of the season    

Small Tortoiseshell butterflies, 2 on Buddleia flowers

Several land hoppers Arcitalitrus dorrieni found hiding indoors in dampness beneath boots  Click for photo

12^th Mottled Umber moth  Click for photo 

Knot Grass moth caterpillar  

Very tatty Red Underwing moth Click for photo and Frosted Orange moth  Click for photo   

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

Peacock butterfly on Buddleia flower 

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Clifden Nonpareil moth  Click for photo

Several Greater Horseshoe bats seen or heard chittering in converted roost building. Now using all rooms and the spiral hibernaculum.

Much bat activity overnight, from sunset onwards. Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Brown Long-eared, Noctule, Serotine, Western Barbastelle and several unidentified Myotis bat passes –  possibly two different species

Raven flying and calling loudly for quite some time in same area   

Dusky Puffball  Click for photo

Fox Moth caterpillar Click for photo

Elephant Hawk-mothDeilephila elpenor caterpillar munching Rosebay WillowherbChamaenerion angustifolium  Click for video

Ringed Rock Dove  Click for photo 

Hornet grounded   Click for photo

Pair of Marsh Tits regularly visiting feeders and also a Bullfinch

Flower Spider Misumena vatia seizing hoverfly Eristalis_pertinax which flew off carrying its attacker   Click for photo

Spotted on peanut feeder, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (male) Click for photo

Unusually low bat activity for August, but four species recorded: Common and Soprano Pipistrelle, Noctule and Serotine

Nightjar calling   

Flower spiderMisumena vatia   Click for photo 

Male sheetweb spider Linyphia triangularis  Click for photo

Valezina form of Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly   Click for photo   

Painted Lady butterfly

Glowworm

Fungus Xerocomos rubellus  Click for photo

Blackcaps feasting on blackberries   Click for photo  

Jersey Tiger Moth Euplagia quadripunctaria   Click for photo   

Bats detected overnight: Common and Soprano Pipistrelle, Western Barbastelle, Brown Long-eared, Serotine, Noctule

Purple Hairstreak butterfly, several at top of oak canopy 

Male Reeve’s Muntjac with splendid pair of horns still in velvet   Click for photo  

Elephant Hawk moth Click for photo

Silver-washed fritillary Click for photo Purple Hair Streak Click for photo White Admiral and Comma butterflies

Glowworm  shining     

Nationally scarce Tanner Beetle Prionus coriarius Click for photo  

Butterflies: Silver-washed Fritillary, Purple Emperor (male), Red Admiral, several White Admiral, and Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Marbled White

Queen Hornet exploring bedroom with some persistence before finally departing 

Slowworm Click for photo    

Golden-ringed dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii   Click for photo    

Several Common Pipistrelle bats on the wing, with a few passes by Soprano Pipistrelle, Brown Long-eared, Western Barbastelle and Serotine bats

Juvenile orb-web spider Zygiella x-notata catching equally tiny hoverfly  Click for photo

Wolf spider Pardosa amentata with egg case  Click for photo

Bee Orchid Click for photo

Flies Neolimonia dumetorum Click for photo and Minettia inusta Click for photo

Roe deer with youngster  Click for photo 

Rose ChaferCetonia aurata  Click for photo

Stag beetle near old tree stump  Click for photo 

Grass Snakes x 3

Red Backed Shrike

Slowworms x 4

Slowworm under purpose-made covering

Painted Lady butterfly, 1 and Large White

Mint moth Pyrausta aurata Click for photo

Swifts, 3 in overhead flypast 3 times 

Frogs X 6

15 Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterflies

Scorched Wing Moth Click for photo, Violet Ground Beetle Click for photo

Roe buck with fine set of horns Click for photo

Nationally scarce Cassida Nobilis beetle Click for photo

Many Palmate newts

Three Red Fox cubs brought out into sunshine by vixen Click for photo

Excited to-ing and fro-ing  by tree hole reared Jackdaw fledglings Click for photo   

Solomon’s Seal  Click for photo,  Firecrest,  Orange Tip butterfly  Click for photo   

Cuckoo Click for photo   Woodcock  Stonechat Click for photo   Woodlark Click for photo   

Swifts

Tree Pipit  Click for photo   

Whitethroat  Click for photo   

Grey Wagtail Click for photo

Wood White butterfly, newly-emerged male 

Philodromus dispar spider – one of several males seen in the house this month  Click for photo

Barn Owl visiting nest box  Click for photo

Garden Warbler heard

Slowworms, 3 and 2 juvenile Grass Snakes under dark-coloured sheet   

Adder  Click for video   

Family of Goosander  Click for photo

Cuckoo heard. Also Reeves Muntjac calling repeatedly.

Long-tail duck

Lesser redpoll on seed feeder

Holly Blue butterfly, female   

Uncommon Scarce Prominent moth Odontosia Carmelita  Click for photo 

Brown long-eared bat roosting in bat box  Click for photo

Thriving colony of Cave Spiders Meta sp (probably M. menardi)  Click for photo

Great Crested Newt  2 males, 1 female   

Redpoll. Subsequently, two or three more with some Siskins

Slowworm under cover   

Red Kite, 3 over woodland   

Pied Wagtail, 10+ feeding in sheep-grazed pasture   

Brambling. This the latest I have seen a brambling.

Moths. The brown one is a Shoulder Stripe Anticlea badiata and the other a Streamer Anticlea derivata. Click for photo

Rare Western Barbastelle bat taken into care after being found grounded  

Male Brambling. His head was just beginning to go black!  This is the latest it’s ever been for my first bramblng sighting here.

Badger Click for video    

Redpoll in my garden

Red Kite

Redpoll

Flock of Siskins, in excess of 100   

Stock dove

Male lace weaver spider, possibly Amaurobius ferox  

Raven seen and heard

Male Muntjac with very well developed horns  Click for photo

Black Swan Cygnus atratus taking up residence Click for photo

Bats in hibernation –  Two Greater Horseshoes and two Natterer’s   

Raven flying over garden 

Male Brimstone butterfly fluttering across garden 

Male Brimstone butterfly  

Female Blackcap on the fatball feeder

Red Kite  over garden

Long-tailed Tits,6, preening busily in amongst Wild Plum blossom

Buff-tailed Bumblebee Click for photo

Two Red Admiral butterflies  Click for photo

Roe Deer   

Micro moth Acleris umbrana in moth trap. Click for photo (Confirmed as a first record for Surrey). Great Diving Beetle also caught in trap. Click for photo

Three Cormorants

Pair of Redwing on my lawn   

Blackcap, male, probably a winter visitor 

Rare Western Barbastelle bat hibernating in bat barn, plus a single long-eared and one Daubenton’s

6 Natterer’s bats hibernating in NT bat barn. One or two Cave Spiders also present. 

Bats in hibernation – 17 Natterer’s, 1 long-eared and a single dead Western Barbastelle, having apparently died in hibernation last year

Treecreeper, Grey Heron flying by, pair of Blackbirds and a tame Robin   

Greater Horseshoe bat in hibernation  

Waxwing seen in garden Click for photo

Song Thrush singing loudly   

Resident pale female Blackbird having dilution, in which melanin cells are present (unlike in leucistic birds) but produce less pigment than normal)  Click for photo

Winter cranefly Trichocera sp.  Click for photo

December Moth Poecilocampa populi found in house Click for photo

Egyptian Goose Click for photo, Grey Heron Click for photo and Water Rail Click for photo seen during our field meeting 

Great Grey Shrike sitting on the very top branch of a leafless tree and subsequently flying off.

Cluster of Trooping Funnel fungi Clitocybe geotropa   Click for photo

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly found in Church     

Fungi – probably  Melanoleuca polioleuca  Common Cavalier  Click for photo  

Helvella crispa fungus Click for photo     

Sub-adult Gannet on High Street taken into care. Subsequently released on the South coast.

Natterer’s bat injured as hanging tile removed – taken into care  Click for photo  

Daubenton’s bat Myotis daubentonii brought in by cat

Can anyone tell us what these jelly-like blobs are? Click for photo 

Female Firecrest flew into a glass door.  Kept inside for the night and released in the morning. Click for photo  

Sulphur Tuft fungi Hypholoma fasciculare  on tree stump  Click for photo

Rose Bedeguar Gall (also known as Robin’s pincushion) Click for photo – a gall caused by the larvae of a tiny wasp, Dipoloepis rosae

Red Admiral

Satellite moth Click for photo and Merveille-du-Jour Click for photo

About two dozen Redwing foraging on grass  Click for photo

Firecrest searching through heather

Pied Flycatcher, pair, catching insects   

Raven in flight

Barn owl

Several passes by rare Western Barbastelle bat Barbastella barbastellus between dusk and dawn. Also detected: Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Brown Long-eared Plecotus auritus,Serotine Eptesicus serotinus, Soprano Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus,Daubenton’s  Myotis daubentonii, and Noctule Nyctalus noctula.

Three Blue Underwing (Clifden Nonpareil) moths Catocala fraxini    Click for photo

Good numbers of  Soprano Pipistrelles Pipistrellus pygmaeus and Daubenton’s bats Myotis daubentonii on the wing. Also passes by Noctule bats Nyctalus noctula,, Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Brown Long-eared bat Plecotus auritus and Serotine Eptesicus serotinus

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Good displays by Soprano Pipistrelles Pipistrellus pygmaeus and Noctule bats Nyctalus noctula.  Daubenton’s Myotis daubentonii, Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Brown Long-eared Plecotus auritus and Serotine Eptesicus serotinus also detected.  

Juvenile Slowworm  Anguis fragilis crossing sandy path

Crab spider folding a flower petal with silk to hide before catching a hoverfly Click for photo

Sub-adult Brown Long-eared bat Plecotus auritus taken into care after being found grounded  Click for photo

Wasp Plumehorn hoverfly Volucella inanis Click for photo

Brown Hairstreak butterfly, female searching for suitable egg-laying locations on young Blackthorn

6 well fledged Song Thrushes eating elderberries. About 11 House Sparrows. Plus Wren, Robin etc Also Hedge Sparrow, about 4 Great Tits. Also heard 2 Tree Creepers.  

Spider Metellina sp.  Click for photo

Large jumping spider Marpissa muscosa in sunshine   Click for photo

Speckled Bush-cricket  Leptophyes punctatissima   Click for photo

Several species of bat on the wing – Common and Soprano Pipistrelle, Serotine, Brown Long-eared and Noctule     

Stoat outside back door

Hummingbird Hawkmoth  Click for photo

Two large, unidentified deer, possibly Red Deer

4 unidentified bats on the wing

Golden Ringed dragonfly

Light Crimson Underwing moth click for photo, second generation Wood White butterfly click for photo and an Oak Bush-Cricket

Great Fox-Spider juvenile (very small) 

Longhorn beetle Lectura quadrifasciata   Click for photo

Valesina subspecies of Silver Washed Fritillary, lacking orange pigmentation, nectaring on blackberry blossom

Tawny Grisette  Amanita fulva 

About 10 Swifts screaming overhead

Many butterflies nectaring in sunshine – Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Green-veined White, Large Skipper, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Holly Blue

Butterflies – Brimstone 45,  Silver-washed Fritillary 19 

Female Emperor dragonfly devouring a (possibly newly emerged) Migrant Hawker Click for photo

Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Daubenton’s and Noctule bats on the wing

Hummingbird Hawkmoth on Buddleia flower   

Wood White butterfly, 2, first of summer brood 

Greater Horseshoe bat investigating potential roost. Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Serotine, Brown Long-eared and Natterer’s bats also foraging in the area.  

Inquisitive Reeve’s Muntjac frightening a Rabbit Click for photo

Grayling butterfly

2nd generation Holly Blue butterfly Click for photo. Also pupae of a Harlequin Ladybird on a ragwort leaf.

Glow worm  glowing

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly Click for photo

Grass Snake, adult, curled up under a tin   

Grey Herons disputing territory  Click for photo             

Silver-washed Fritillary, Large and Small Skipper, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Marbled White and White Admiral butterflies, many of all now on the wing. 

Starling, flock of 70+ on telegraph wires       

Purple Emperor butterfly Click for photo

Multicolored Asian Ladybeetle (Harlequin) larva Harmonia axyridis Click for photo

Male Broad-bodied chaser Libellula depressa  Click for photo

Two Swifts up high

4 Swifts screaming

Common Awl Robberfly Neoitamus_cyanurus Click for photo

Green Tiger Beetle  Cicindela campestris Click for photo

Green-veined White butterfly

Weevil Cionus hortulanus   Click for photo

Jumping spiders Heliophanus flavipes Click for photo and Salticus scenicus hunting in sunshine

Yellow Shell moth  Click for photo

Holly blue butterfly nectaring on Cotoneaster flowers Click for photo

Nightingale singing

Swifts, two flying very high 

Bee fly Bombilius major Click for photo

Cuckoo calling on and off all week

Wood White butterfly – first of spring brood

Female Bechstein’s bat radio tagged to trace roost

Wolf spider Pardosa amentata warily courting a large female Click for photo

Holly Blue, Brimstone, Red Admiral, Orange Tip (male) and Speckled Wood butterflies

Two Duke of Burgundy butterflies     

Four Wasp Beetles emerging from logs     

Amphipod, probably the invasive land hopper Arcitalitrus dorrieni Click for photo

Hornet flying between window and
curtain.

Holly Blue butterfly   

Holly Blue butterfly   

Slowworm, adult, beneath tin     

Blackcap and Wren singing     

Speckled Wood butterfly

Nightingale singing Click for recording

Great Crested Newt

Otter crossing road

Sparrowhawk missing its target on a bird feeder then resting for five seconds

Male and female Adder basking about 1km north of the NT car park, possibly sub adult, as they were quite small, so perhaps not a breeding pair. Click for photo

Orange-tip butterfly male

Red Kite flying over

5 Slow Worms in compost bin and one Grass Snake sheltering under a compost bin lid on the ground

Goldcrest on bird feeder

Male Brambling  

Skylark seen and heard

Brimstone butterfly, male

Solitary specimen of Wood Sorrel in flower

Otter

Southern Wood Ant colonies emerging en masse

Grey Wagtail foraging in the stream entering the pond. Also Yew flower pollen releasing.

Small flock of Bullfinches

First singing Chiffchaff of the year at this site (5 days later than last year). Woodlark singing here last 2 days also.

Pair Greenfinches  

Close view of an adult Viviparous Lizard

Two Siskins on grass

Yellow wagtail reported scrabbling about for food under the lamp

Elfcup fungus – either Scarlet Elfcup Sarcoscypha austriaca or Ruby Elfcup Sarcoscypha coccinea Click for photo

Several Herald moths and a number of Cave Spiders Meta sp. in National Trust bat barn Click for photo

9 Natterer’s bats Myotis nattereri in underground hibernaculum   

Female Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea checking garden pond

Nationally scarce Horse Chestnut moth Pachycnemia hippocastanaria Click for photo

Last sighting of a Brambling this winter

Pair of very vocal Ravens seen

Male Brimstone butterfly

Two male Brimstone butterflies, , energetically searching bramble plants

Frog spawn appearing in garden pond

Turkey tail fungus Trametes versicolor Click for photo

Siskins have finally made their annual appearance on my bird feeder

An amazing 67 moths trapped overnight including Pale Pinion Lithophane hepatica Click for photo and a March moth Alsophila aescularia Click for photo

Male Brimstone butterfly

Red Kite swooping over fields       

Thrush singing joyfully       

One Daubenton’s bat and a single long-eared bat hibernating in NT Bat barn

A single Natterer’s bat hibernating in NT bat barn

2 rare Western Barbastelle bats Barbastella barbastellus, 14 Natterer’s Myotis nattereri, 1 Daubenton’s Myotis daubentonii, 1 long-eared Plecotus sp, 1 small woodland Myotis hibernating in underground site

Rare British Soldiers lichen Cladonia cristatella Click for photo

Field Vole Microtus agrestis  Click for photo

Late 1st sighting of brambling (usually first seen in November)

Unusually pale female Blackbird. Click for photo
(Subsequently identified as having dilution, in which melanin cells are present (unlike in leucistic birds) but produce less pigment than normal).

3 or more Treecreepers this morning in a shrubby tree by the stream,

8 Greenfinches in the garden this morning.  Usually 1 and occasionally 2 but haven’t seen 8 together for some years.  

Toad

Pair of Reeve’s Muntjac browsing in close proximity

Four unringed Greater Horseshoe bats still resident in roost due to mild weather

Goldfinches, 8 on bird feeders and queue nearby   

Tiger Eye Fungus   

Many Common Pipistrelle and Brown Long-eared bats on the wing, and a single Western Barbastelle 

Common Frog Click for photo

Many varieties of fungi on a dead tree stump

Sparrowhawk being enthusiastically chased by two carrion crows

Speckled Wood butterfly in 17ºC temp

Two male Common Darters, over the same puddle. And, less expected, a male Emperor, patrolling a puddle, and two female Emperors, ovipositing in the banks of puddles

Painted Lady butterfly

Firecrest stunned on patio – later recovered

Slowworm beneath the soil

Clifden Nonpareil moth in greenhouseClick for photo

Grass Snake, juvenile, beneath a tin and a sloughed skin beneath another tin

 Centipede Lithobius forficatus found in house     Click for photo

Pair of Raven circling for some minutes (single ravens also spotted over Black Down in past 3 weeks)

Three juvenile Greater Horseshoe bats and a single Western Barbastelle roosting in derelict building

Three juvenile Greater Horseshoe bats and a single Western Barbastelle roosting in derelict building

Crossbill, Sparrowhawk, 15 Redwings, 3 Firecrests and 2 Marsh Tits

Green-brindled Crescent Click for photo and Merveille du Jour moths Click for photo

Ravens, 2 flying over

Grisette Amanita vaginata fungus   Click for photo

 Psathyrella corrugis fungus   Click for photo

Red-cracked Bolete Boletus chrysenteron   Click for photo

Scarletina Bolete Neoboletus praestigiator (known before as Boletus erythropus or luridiformis)   Click for photo

Convolvulus Hawkmoth   Click for photo

Rare Wood Sandpiper    Click for photo

Much bat activity over lake. Common and Soprano pipistrelles, Daubenton’s, Natterer’s, Brown Long-eared and Noctule all seen clearly by lamplight

Hummingbird Hawk moth

Butting match between a pair of Reeves Muntjac – the female possibly repelling mating advances

Hummingbird Hawk moth

Young Roe suckling between browsing on brambles    Click for photo

Hummingbird Hawk moth

Glow-worms, 2

Hummingbird Hawk moth

3 Wood White butterflies, new to this site

Drinker moth    Click for photo

Juvenile Greater Horseshoe bats now starting to fly in maternity roost    Click for video

Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly

Partial albino Juvenile Carrion Crow Click for photo

Invasive immigrant Box-tree MothCydalima perspectalis  Click for photo

Purple Emperor butterfly flying unusually low on the hottest day

Wood White butterfly   Click for photo

Two Barn Owls emerging from barn roost

Many pipistrelle bats of both common species on the wing, plus Noctule, Daubenton’s, Serotine, Western Barbastelle, Alcathoe, Brown Long-eared and some unidentified Myotis species

Many pipistrelle bats of both common species on the wing, plus Noctule, Daubenton’s, Serotine, Western Barbastelle, Alcathoe, Brown Long-eared and some unidentified Myotis species

Green Woodpecker and juvenile foraging for ants   Click for photo

Up to nine Greater Horseshoe bats in maternity roost – with five pups now visible    Click for video

Barn owl in flight

Many bats feeding on the wing – Common and Soprano Pipistrelle, Daubenton’s, Brown Long-eared and Noctule

Swift

Buff Ermine moth, resting on front door

Swift, one. Swallows 18 perched on wires

Juvenile Soprano Pipistrelle bat taken into care after being found grounded

Goat Moth Click for photo and Light Crimson Underwing Click for photo

Brown Long-eared bat in dormouse box     Click for photo

Glowworm

Common Pipistrelle bat pup found in kitchen, but soon died

First local Greater Horseshoe bat pup of 2022     Click for video

Marbled White, Ringlet butterflies

Female Common Pipistrelle bat found exhausted in house. Released after a little attention.

Pine Hawkmoth Click for photo and Eyed Hawkmoth Click for photo

Large Skipper, White Admiral, Meadow Brown, Wood White butterflies

Lime Hawkmoth in polytunnel Click for photo  Many beetles on foliage, including 14-spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata Click for photo

Rare Western Barbastelle bat flying past

Common and Soprano Pipistrelle bats

At least 5 plump-looking Greater Horseshoe bats now in residence in maternity roost

Heavily pregnant Soprano Pipistrelle bat trapped in building taken into care. Released after rehydration and a good feed.

Painted Lady butterfly

Female Field Cricket    Click for photo

Alder Kitten moth: the 2nd ever record for Hants, the other was in 1945   Click for photo 

Greater Horseshoe bats beginning to return to maternity roost

Scorpionfly Panorpa communis   Click for photo

Swifts, 7

Much bat activity overnight – Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Brown long-eared, Noctule, Serotine, Western Barbastelle and unidentified Myotis species

Fine Sulphur Polypore Laetiporus sulphurous   Click for photo

Poplar Hawk Click for photo  and Green Silver-lines Click for photo  moths, and some eggs laid in the moth trap (probably from Pale Tussock moth) Click for photo

Fox cub (one of three) foraging alone   Click for video

Wood White butterflies, several spring brood

Green-veined White butterfly

Very large female pipistrelle bat of indeterminate species taken into care with serious cat injuries. (DNA test showed it to be Pipistrellus pipistrellus).

Orange-tip male and Comma butterflies

Wasp Beetle Clytus arietis    Click for photo 

Puss Moth

Tiny Red Fox cub playing with mother

Stitchwort scrambling up a wire fenceand also in adjacent woodland

Comma butterfly fluttering near loganberry leaves

Emperor moth, male   Click for photo

Natterjack Toads, juvenile and spawn strings

 Dead Stoat found in garden   Click for photo   

Holly Blue and male Orange-tip butterflies

Cuckoo

Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Daubenton’s, Brown long-eared, Serotine and Western Barbastelle bats

Cuckoo

Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Orange Tip and Peacock butterflies. Also a Goldfinch landing on the ground.

Common and Soprano Pipistrelles and Daubenton’s bats

Nightingale heard

Coltsfoot growing in a large patch on disturbed gravel   Click for photo

Long-eared bat, probably Plecotus auritus, sheltering in National Trust bat barn after a cold night

Peacock butterfly fluttering over grass and briefly basking on paving slabs, then chased off an approaching bumblebee, following it for a good few seconds’ distance

Greater Horseshoe bat returning to regular roost

Brimstone and Peacock butterflies active in the sunshine

Population of Cellar Spiders Pholcus phalangiodes apparently wiped out by entomopathogenic fungus, probably Torrubiella pulvinata     Click for photo

Common pipistrelle bat found grounded in pouring rain. Released after a few days of intensive care.

Male Brimstone butterfly

Peacock butterfly

Chiffchaff singing

Brimstone butterfly, male

2 x Red Admiral butterflies

Peacock Butterfly

Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum   Click for photo

Buff tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris on a daffodil  Click for photo

5 Natterer’s bats Myotis nattereri, 2 small woodland Myotis and a single long-eared bat Plecotus sp. hibernating in underground site. Also good numbers of Herald moths.

Extensive carpet of mauve crocuses visited by bumblebees and wild bees  Click for photo

Badger seizing worms from grass  Click for video

Roe buck with fine antlers in velvet  Click for photo

 In moth trap: 8 moths, two species, Pale Brindled Beauty and Spring Ushers Click for photo. Also a solitary wasp Ancistrocerus nigricornis Click for photo

Pair of Reeve’s muntjac   Click for photo

Heron perching unconcernedly in treetop whilst being mobbed by nest-building crows  Click for photo

Fox skull  Click for photo

Brown long-eared bat found grounded. Died in care a few days later.

3 Natterer’s bats, a Daubenton’s, a small woodland Myotis, a long-eared and an unidentified Myotis hibernating in underground site

4 Goosander (1 male, 3 females)

3 male Goosander still present on pond

Queen wasp emerging prematurely from hibernation

Spirited fight between two Wood Pigeons beneath bird feeder, egged on by two squawking Magpies who then chased and pecked the loser

6 Goosander – 3 male, 3 female, and a Little Egret

Adder  Click for photo

Amazing display of fungi on a tree stump   Click for photo  

Various fungi on an old oak stump   Click for photo

Several bunches of mistletoe on a leafless tree   Click for photo

Mosquito Culex pipiens emerging from hibernation during mild spell  Click for photo

Leucistic goldfinch at birdfeeder  Click for photo

Redwing Click for photo and jay Click for photo

Large badger foraging on lawn during a mild night

Male blackcap

Common darter

Male common darter

Hibernating brown long-eared bat found beneath ridge tile during repair works. Taken into temporary care. (A second brought in on 17th, then both released)   Click for photo

Ring-necked parakeet Psittacula krameri on birdfeeder    Click for photo    

Cluster of fenugreek stalkball Phleogena faginea , a tiny basidiomycete fungus growing on tree bark   Click for photo

Ring ouzel (1st winter) Click for photo, mistle thrush, fieldfare,redwing, blackbird, 20+ brambling, chaffinch, lesser redpoll, a few stonechat and Dartford warbler, 400-ish wood pigeon heading south

Large flocks of wood pigeon, 12+ crossbill, 50-ish linnet(?), goshawk toying with a crow, 4 cormorant, small numbers of redwing and fieldfare